The Cabrillo College Seahawks are heading back to state.
Led by an impenetrable block, a powerful serve and a balanced offensive attack, Cabrillo advanced to the California Community College Athletic Association state tournament for the fifth straight season with a 25-7, 25-15, 25-13 sweep over De Anza College on Saturday night in Aptos.
Cabrillo, the No. 1 seed of the Northern California bracket, improved to 29-1 overall with the victory and has won its last 17 matches, while also not dropping a set since mid-October.
The state tournament, a single-elimination, eight-team bracket, begins on Friday at Solano College in Fairfield.
State champion in 2013 and ’15, Cabrillo started off Saturday’s match on fire and never let up.
Freshman setter Mari Molina masterfully controlled the pace and finished with 35 assists, five aces, three kills and eight digs.
Sophomore libero Alyssa Nelson paced the team in digs with 10 digs and also twirled four aces.
Freshman outside hitter Jolie Samuelson and freshman right side Kylie Kvam combined for 19 kills, 10 digs and 4 1/2 blocks.
Sophomore outside hitter Camryn Rocha added seven kills and freshman middle blocker Amanda Meserve chipped in with six kills and two blocks.
The Seahawks also finished with 14 aces as a team.
Along with winning the state title in ’13 and ’15, Cabrillo was the runner-up in ’14.
Last season, the Seahawks also entered as the top seed from Northern California but were ousted in the first round by El Camino College.
Fresno City College won the state championship last season but was eliminated on Saturday by San Joaquin Delta College in five sets.
Feather River College and Folsom Lake College also advanced to the state tournament from NorCal, while Irvine Valley College, MiraCosta College, College of the Canyons and San Diego City College will represent SoCal.
